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Edwards grew up watching his father, Carl Sr., race and was inspired to follow in his footsteps. Carl Sr. has been racing modified stock cars and USAC midget sprint cars for over 40 years, accumulating more than 200 victories. Carl Jr. began his racing career in 1993 at age 13, competing in four-cylinder mini-sprints. His success quickly followed; in 1994, he won four feature races in the mini-sprint series at tracks in Missouri and Illinois. Over the 1995 and 1996 seasons, he added a combined total of 14 wins.
In 1997, Edwards switched to dirt racing in the IMCA modified division. By 1998, he earned Rookie of the Year honors in that division at Capital Speedway in Holt Summit, Missouri. In 1999, he won 13 races in the track’s Modified division and secured the NASCAR Track Championship.
Edwards' breakthrough came in 2002 when he competed in seven NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events for MB Motorsports, achieving a best finish of eighth. This performance caught the attention of Jack Roush, leading to a full-time Truck Series ride in 2003, driving the #99 Ford F-150 sponsored by Superchips. He earned Rookie of the Year honors, won three races, and finished eighth in the points standings. In 2004, Edwards claimed three more victories, including the season-opening Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at Daytona International Speedway, and finished fourth in the points. That August, he made his Nextel Cup Series debut, replacing Jeff Burton in the #99 Ford Taurus for Roush Racing at Michigan International Speedway, finishing 10th.
In 2005, Edwards raced full-time in both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series, capturing wins in each. On March 19, he won the Aaron's 312 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, marking his first Busch Series victory. The following day, he narrowly defeated Jimmie Johnson by 0.02 seconds to win the Golden Corral 500 at the same track, his first Nextel Cup Series win. This achievement marked the first time a driver won both Busch and Nextel Cup Series races in the same weekend at Atlanta, and Edwards became the first in NASCAR history to earn his first career wins in both series during the same weekend.
On June 12, 2005, Edwards secured his second Nextel Cup victory at the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The weekend was bittersweet, as the Busch Series race at Nashville Superspeedway had been rained out and rescheduled for the same day. Qualifying was also canceled due to rain, so the starting lineup was set by owner points. Although Edwards was awarded the pole position, Hank Parker Jr. drove the car to a 20th-place finish.
Edwards earned his third win of 2005 on October 30 in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
